Metal car seal



Patented June 6, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE katchewan,

Canada, assignor to Albert W.

Newton, Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada Application January 5, 1942, SerialNo. 425,599

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in car seals, an object of thisinvention being to provide a device of the character herewithindescribed which is formed from a one-piece patterned blank, the blankbeing struck at one end thereof to form two adjacent dished portions,one of which is designed to cover the other to form a boxing for lockingmechanism to be placed there- Within.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved seal forsealing railway car doors which positively cannot be tampered withwithout breakage, thus revealing the fact that it has been tamperedwith.

A further object of my invention is to provide a unique form of housingto contain the sealing mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is economical to manufacture and reliable in operation.

With the above more important objects in view and such other minorobjects as may appear as the specification proceeds, my inventionconsists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all ashereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of my improved metal seal andribbon.

Figure 2 is a cross-section.

Figure 3 is a plan view of my one-piece patterned blank after strikingthe dished portions therewithin.

Figure 4 is a side view of a portion of my blank after the two dishedportions have been struck.

Figure 5 illustrates the manner in which the endmost dished portion isbent over to form a housing with the inner dished portion.

Figure 6 illustrates the manner in which the ribbon proceeds through theendmost dished portion.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding partsin the difierent figures.

One of the objections in the standard form of railway box car door sealresides in the fact that by the exercise of a small amount of skill, theseal can be unlocked without injury to the ribbon which extends into theseal, and re-locked, and as a result of this shortcoming in the standardtype of seal, a great deal of loss is sustained annually by railwaycompanies through theft.

My invention therefore consists of a seal from which the ribbon cannotbe withdrawn without breakage, so that if the contents of a sealed boxcar are tampered with, the fact is obvious through the condition of theribbon.

After being formed as by means of dies to the configuration illustratedin the accompanying Figure 3, the portions 43 and 44 are struck into thedished configuration as clearly illustrated in the accompanying Figure4. The portion 44 is now rotated about the line 45 so that it covers theportion 43 after the conventional locking mechanism4l (Figure 2) hasbeen positioned within the portion 43. The two opposite edges 46 arethen beaded around the edges 41 and after this has been done, the ribbon42 is inserted through the aperture 48, which it will be noted is formedat an angle as clearly illustrated. When the ribbon 42 is broughtaround, the lateral slot 49 will be coincident with the above mentionedskewed aperture or slot 48. After passing through the slot 48, theribbon 42 proceeds along to emerge from a slot 50 extending along theedge between the sides 5| and 52 of the portion 44, this slot preferablybeing formed after the portions 43 and 44 have been struck, for whichreason I have not illustrated the same in the accompanying Figure 3.

Since various modifications can be made in the above invention, and manyapparently widely different einbodiments of same, made within the scopeof the claim without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isintended that all matter contained in the accompanying specificationshall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting senseand, I desire only such limitations placed thereon as are specificallyexpressed in the accompanying claim.

What I claim as my invention is:

A housing and dependent ribbon for the looking mechanism of box carseals, said housing and ribbon being formed from a one-piece patternedblank, one end of said blank being struck into a pair of adjacent dishedforms in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the blank to constituteinner and end forms, said end form being provided with two slotsextending normal to the said longitudinal axis, the first of said slotsbeing situated medially of the top surface of said form and skewed whenviewed in cross-section, the second slot extending along the edge ofsaid top surface, said end form covering said inner form to constitute ahollow housing containing said locking mechanism, said ribbon extendingalong one side of said end form and also thereover to proceed throughsaid slots, said ribbon being also provided with a slot designed toalign and be coincident with said first slot, the free end of saidribbon being designed to extend through said coinciding slots and intothe interior of said hous- 1 s.

WILLIAM GEORGE NEWTON.

